Word
by damnzam
Summary: A soulmate AU in which your soulmate's first words to you are tattooed on your skin. (Marichat)
1. Word

_Shit._

Those words took a place on Marinette Dupain-Cheng's wrist.

And technically also on her heart.

At the same time, she was head-over-heels _ashamed_ of them.

After all, they were the first words her soulmate would ever say to her.

Marinette sneered to herself.

What kind of ass would cuss to a girl?

Terrible first impressions, after all.

But then she _met_ him.

When she got the chance (and the motive,) she would take that sponge and rub the word off of her wrist.

Because that boy just _had_ to be Chat Noir.

And it certainly wasn't the first time they had met.

Since Marinette had met him a more than once as Ladybug.

But this time was different.

Because _this_ time:

It was the first time she met him as _Marinette_.

He literally fell out of the sky.

And, no, there were no choirs of angels.

"Shit, watch out!" He stumbled straight into her balcony.

Marinette felt the ink on her left wrist just become darker, bolder, harder to hide.

"What the hell?!" The young girl exclaimed.

Though it had gone unnoticed to Marinette, Chat Noir's gaze landed, at least for just a second, to his right bicep, now covered with black leather.

Of course, if the suit wasn't there, or even his jacket when he wasn't transformed, then his love letters would be there.

Written in plaintive cursive.

 _What the hell._

"Can't an innocent civilian stand anywhere without anything disturbing them?" Marinette deadpanned.

His first instinct was to leave. Mutter a sorry, maybe, but avoid landing on a balcony ever again.

Preferably a balcony situated right in front of the Notre Dame.

But then again.

This was the first time he would actually _talk_ to Marinette.

She was in his class at school, but it was obvious that she was avoiding conversations with him. She avoided him with a passion.

As far as he could tell, Marinette didn't like him. She was intimidated by his very presence.

But right now, as Chat Noir - his true self, Marinette also shined through.

Which would explain why he would've pegged her as his soulmate already.

He wouldn't want anyone to be entwined with a false image of him.

There were enough fangirls - and fanboys - for that.

So he decided to seize the moment.

Chat smirked, "Nice to meet you too, Princess."

"Don't call me Princess," she butt in. Marinette kept clasping her hand, rubbing her thumb against her wrist.

Just because they were soulmates did not entitle Marinette to act lovey-dovey.

Or even _nice_.

Same went for Chat.

He could still play his games, couldn't he?

"Well, what can I call you?" He tilted his head like a confused kitten, "I don't know your name."

She rolled her eyes, "Do you have to know?"

He felt his smirk wide.

"Of course I do, Princess," he winked. "But Princess makes a good name for you, too."

Marinette folded her arms over her chest and harrumphed, "It's Marinette."

"Well," Chat bowed and held Marinette's hand.

Thankfully, it wasn't the hand with those four letters haphazardly spread on it.

To Marinette's surprised, he brought her right hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

"Nice to meet you, Princess."

She retracted her hand immediately, "I _said_ Marinette."

"Your face is so much cuter when you mix freckles with flush," Chat Noir chuckled.

Marinette groaned in annoyance.

He smiled and pointed at her furious expression, "And feisty! Stumbling onto your balcony was no mistake, I see."

"I will kick you off of my balcony, you mangy stray."

The fact that she said all that with a straight face made the cat hero laugh.

"You're adorable," he mewled, "Like a mouse."

"Mice don't like cats," she stated.

Chat winked, "Are you telling me you're not like most mice?"

"No," she replied, "I'm telling you I don't like you."

He pouted.

"Now that just hurts," said Chat. "I'm your knight in shining armor. You don't diss your hero so quickly."

Marinette walked closer to the trap door, "I don't need saving, thank you."

"Good night then," he purred. "And I'll be back, Princess. Trust me. You never know when you might need to be saved."

She opened the hatch. "I don't think I'll call you up on that. I'd honestly prefer Ladybug if I ever accidentally fall off the railing."

Ending with _Chat Noir_ 's signature two-finger salute, she descended into her bedroom.

Even Adrien wouldn't stoop that low even if it meant that he was going to keep talking with the girl who was probably his soulmate.

As he jumped back to his house, he imagined several ways where he would catch Marinette if she ever fell.

And she would fall.

Adrien was sure of it.

Just hopefully not off the railing.

* * *

A week later, an akuma swooped to disturb the lovely calm that hovered over Paris.

Bougainvillain was her name. A fired florist, falsely accused of screwing up a photo shoot for a certain famous designer's spring line.

Challenging, maybe.

But no task undone for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

They even had a lovely amount of time to talk after the battle.

Breathlessly, they raced to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, the closest and highest place within their reach at the moment.

"I have some news," Ladybug said in unison with her partner.

They paused.

"You go first," they said again.

Once more, at the same time.

Chat cleared his throat.

Ladybug chewed the inside of her cheek.

 **"I think I just met my soulmate."**

Green eyes stared upon blue.

Blue eyes stared upon green.

Since Chat was the most oblivious of the pair, he was the one who reacted strangely.

He'd heard of instances where love letters led to love triangles.

Chat secretly hoped he was part of one, where Ladybug's soulmate was secretly him.

But then he realized what kind of ass he would probably be to just ditch Marinette - his _soulmate_ \- like that for the girl he first fell in love with.

And another thought crossed his mind.

 _What if Marinette had a different soulmate?_

He shuddered.

That's when he finally drank the fact that his Lady was still there.

And he visibly showed disgust, and she might have thought it was because he felt jealous.

Because that's exactly what she said.

"Are you jealous, _mon chaton_?" She giggled.

He tried to clear the awkwardness with a cough, "No."

Chat Noir couldn't explain it, but his tail - ahem, belt - liked to move on its own.

Right now, it was pointed down at an angle.

The belt knew his feelings before he ever did.

"You met your soulmate?" He smiled, "Great for you, my Lady!"

Ladybug smiled in reply, "Congratulations to you, too."

She pressed her lips into a fine line.

Hopefully, it could pass for a smile.

Deep inside, Marinette was having mixed feelings that it could be her.

 _She_ might be Chat Noir's soulmate.

Which would mean they were mutual.

And as much of a good guy Chat Noir was, he was an immense flirt who liked to joke around.

That was exactly why Marinette would've preferred it if her soulmate was Adrien.

But a swear word on the skin usually meant one did _not_ get the nice guys.

She whimpered at her unluckiness.

Ladybugs were supposed to be lucky, dammit!

Chat Noir caught her reaction with his heightened senses.

"My Lady," a grin spread on his lips, "are _you_ jealous?"

Marinette's eyes widened as she quickly blurt out: "Why would I be jealous when _you're_ my soulmate?"

For seconds, their conversation was carried by blinks of the eyes, twitches of the muscle and strange silence.

Then she facepalmed.

And Chat...

Well, he was somewhere else.


	2. Writer's Block

**The Completed tag means nothing to you people.**

 **But first, let me cover some things.**

 **Adrien views his Chat Noir persona as more _himself_ than the Adrien that all of Paris knows, so his soulmate would be linked with whoever was truly Adrien, hence Chat Noir.**

 **As for Marinette, her Ladybug image is simply a magnified version of who she already is since she is an expressive person. Therefore, her soulmate would be connected with her on her own.**

 **Also, the love square is not sweet or romantic. It's frustrating, stressful and annoying.**

 **P.S. Chat doesn't know that he is Marinette's soulmate. He is too oblivious for that, too. Marinette is unsure if she is Chat's soulmate, but she suspects. Chat's Adriensona is nonexistent in this fic, because I'm trying desperately to write Marichat.**

 **Thank you.**

* * *

 _What the hell._

Adrien muttered the phrase to himself four times over.

What the hell?

What the hell was he going to do?

His soulmate was Marinette but...

But he was _Ladybug's_ soulmate.

His grin was practically shit-eating at that point.

He paced his extensive bedroom, practicing his lines.

No, they weren't for a commercial.

Or a ridiculous movie Nino cooked up.

They were _his_ lines, practiced less and less.

They were the words he would say.

 _Will say._

"Marinette," he looked out the window.

Adrien stopped. _Purrincess, maybe._

He stared at his reflection through the clear glass, imagining that his classmate was there. "Hey, Purrincess."

 _No, not Chat-ty enough._

"Hey, Purrincess," he began, "I was getting a bit skittish to tell you some news."

 _Mews. Definitely say mews._

Talking to girls was hard.

Especially when there were no girls around.

Plagg sat on his shoulder, "You suck at this. Go get me cheese. You don't suck at that."

"Screw this," he picked up the kwami and flicked him in the air, "I'm just going to go there and get it over with."

"Get what over with?" Plagg yawned.

"Plagg, transform me!"

The cat kwami rolled his eyes and decided to just go with it, too.

A cool green light enveloped Adrien, and suddenly, Chat Noir took his place.

Before pouncing out the window, he shut the door and locked it. He turned on the TV too, just to deflect any suspicion.

Having only been there once as Chat Noir, he surprisingly knew the way.

He first observed from the roof of the school, which was just across the street or so. Why she was late so often to school was beyond his knowledge. The street was silent apart from a few passersby and the buzz of a few insects around the streetlamp.

As his luck would have it, the upper windows were dark. No lights were on, and Marinette was either asleep or out of the house.

Until he saw the soft amber glow on the balcony as they flickered into view.

Marinette was sitting on a lounge chair on her top floor patio, wrapped in a red blanket knitted with a golden fleur-de-lis pattern. He wouldn't have pegged her as asleep, unless lights now spontaneously came on without any use.

Chat Noir pounced once more, landing squarely on the railing and causing a table to rattle.

"Is that you, Chat?" Marinette didn't even look away from the sky. "What are you here for?"

He cleared his throat and tried to channel as much Chat Noir as inhumanly possible, "Hey, Purrincess," he mewled, "I was a bit _skittish_ to tell you some _mews_."

"Three puns in a sentence," she commented, "Nice touch. But if it's an akuma you're here about, you've come to the wrong person."

Chat Noir noticed that Marinette was not up to her snark the first time they met, which basically made a new impression on him. She was snuggled up in her blanket. She wasn't staring up at the stars like he had assumed, but her head was tucked in the blanket with her entire body in a fetal position.

"You seem pretty blanketed right now," he commented. There was no kittenish tone in his voice. Chat Noir's voice dripped with concern. His original motive for visiting was now gone. Chat's first instinct was now to cuddle up to her and figure out all her problems. "Come on, Marinette, you can tell me."

Her head sprouted from the fleur-de-lis wool blanket. "Do you really want to know?"

Chat Noir nodded solemnly.

His entire face read _serious_. Marinette decided that he was.

She pushed the blanket down. "I told my soulmate that he was my soulmate," she bit her cheek. It wasn't the whole truth, but she couldn't tell that to Chat.

An expression painted his cattish face. It was shaded with both disappointment and... something else.

Strangely, it seemed like relief.

"How did this guy react?" He asked, then paused, "If he _is_ a guy, that is. I mean, I know some people-"

"It's a guy," she cut him off and sat up, "Well, this guy, I think he really likes me, but he doesn't really like _me_."

"Princess, I don't follow," commented Chat.

"I just-," she hesitated, "He doesn't really know me as a person. He likes an image of me and he's put me on a pedestal that I might come down from if I open up to him."

Marinette cursed herself. She was getting soulmate advice from her _soulmate_. It was confusing as it was illogical.

Chat Noir stretched his legs on the railing. "Why don't you just open up to him? Honestly, if I was that guy I wouldn't care."

 _You are that guy, you little shit._

"It doesn't matter," Marinette shook her head, "Besides, I kind of like another guy. Not that I _don't_ have any feelings for my soulmate. I'm willing to see him in another way, but I just met Ad- _the other guy_ ," she corrected, "first. He was the first one to my heart, and I can't just give that up."

He scowled and jumped off of the railing. "So, if you had a choice, would you choose your soulmate, or the guy of your dreams?"

Hell, Marinette could have been a mirror and Chat could have been talking to himself.

"That depends," Marinette shrugged and looked at Chat. Her face was glistening against the soft amber light. "Which one genuinely feels something for _me_?"

Chat Noir replied with a smile, "Well, name a situation."

"What's yours?" She shook her head at the vagueness of her own question, "How are you and your soulmate? Don't tell me you haven't found them yet."

"We're in the same hole, Princess," he pressed his lips together, "I.. uh-Well, I came here tonight to tell you this."

Marinette suddenly became more attentive. Worry rushed into her mind.

 _Oh, holy mother of Chat Noir, I was right. I was damn right._

"Actually," crouched down to get a lower view on Marinette, " _You're_ my soulmate, Marinette. Then, I got sort of messed up because a few days later, Ladybug comes and tells me _I'm_ her soulmate. I got myself into a mess. These stupid love letters got me into a mess. I understand if you've got another soulmate. Hell, I'd be glad, because you don't have to be alone."

Marinette stood up. The wool blanket was on the floor now. "Why's that?"

"I've," he followed Marinette in standing and ran a hand through his hair, "I've always loved Ladybug. When I find out we're _kind of_ meant to be, it does things to a guy. I mean, she ran out on me before I could say anything, but I just _knew_. I'm sorry, if it could mean anything to you."

She stomped her foot, "I knew it! I damn knew it! I was right! I was so _so_ stupid!"

Chat widened his eyes. Before he could say anything, Marinette just kept going.

"I _shouldn't_ have told you that! I _knew_ it would get your hopes up," she held her head, "Ladybug, save me. You just come up with that shit-eating grin and I say the first thing that comes in my mind."

The final puzzle piece clicked into place, forming one huge equal sign in Chat's mind.

She looked back at Chat Noir with those huge blue eyes, "Why aren't you trying to get me to stop talking? I'm rambling here!"

Chat Noir gestured toward her, "Well, you're on a roll."

She stalked closer toward him, until they were only three, no, _two_ inches away from each other. "Tell me something Chat. If you had a choice between your soulmate and the girl of your dreams, who would _you_ pick?"

And there was his chance to practice what he preached.

He shrugged, and gave her that shit-eating grin he knew she secretly loved, "Do I _cat_ a choice if they're the same girl?"

So it came to Marinette that she was the loser of this whole equation.

Or was she?

She didn't even know it yet.

* * *

 **No. No more sequels. It's open-ended. Leave it all to your imaginations.**


	3. Dealing with The End

**I said it was the end? Did I say it was the end? What do you _mean_ it's been months? Whoops. **

* * *

_Marinette tried to grill Chat's secret identity, but he was being as resistant as she was when the story first began. Well, she wanted to know just for the purpose of knowing who to avoid when she was walking across the sidewalks of Paris. In all cat fashion, he smiled like Wonderland's Cheshire, leaving Marinette to only wonder._

It had been a week.

Still, there was absolutely no sign of anything past rising from the dead.

Ladybug was just as flustery as Marinette was with Adrien, to say the least.

Things had taken an unnaturally awkward turn, and there seemed to be no way out of it. Strange, considering Ladybug was always the more optimistic and serious of the two.

Chat, dear boy, he tried.

He tried very hard every akuma.

He flirted with her for old times' sake, and she responded with a color matching her suit. There was no banter outside of discussing how to save Paris' day.

Ladybug and Chat Noir pounded fists out of habit and fled, not a single turn around to stare at each other.

Alya noticed all of this.

She was still hoping Adrien would become less oblivious and just ask Mari out already.

To be honest, Adrien was the only hope of keeping everything on the harbor.

Her best friend seemed to have lost all hope and just gave up on Adrien.

Overnight.

Yes. _Overnight_.

One night.

A single evening.

One day, Marinette walked into class and plopped down on her usual seat. Adrien walked in minutes later and greeted his usual hello.

The usual hello meaning Marinette squandering on her seat, blushing more than profusely, face as red as Nathanaël's hair.

Instead, she said just answered it with a kind smile the way she did with everyone else.

As far as Alya knew, Adrien was not just _everyone_ _else_ when it came to Marinette.

The other interesting detail that crossed Alya's searching eyes was that Adrien looked _disappointed_.

Yes.

You heard properly.

The dear boy was not just surprised, but _disappointed_.

Alya deduced three possible reasons for this:

 **a)** Adrien liked feeling special, especially when it came to the way Marinette treated him.

Alya didn't really see how that could have been possible.

For one, Adrien had Chloé for that purpose. The mayor's daughter treated everyone, save Adrien, like trash. Some " _trash_ " (such the likes of Sabrina) were higher than everyone else but that witch clung to him like he was the last ray of sunshine on Earth, which Alya knew clearly wasn't true.

Marinette was at _least_ five rays of sunshine.

Or, **b)** Adrien enjoyed watching Marinette ruffle about him, and that the "oblivious" thing was just pure pretense. Which would mean that Adrien _knew_ that this lovely and ultimately amazing girl liked him, and he didn't do anything about it.

Now that didn't sit right with Alya.

For one, Adrien had enough fangirls for that, and he was clearly using Marinette if such the case.

But, through Nino's daily repor– ahem, their usual conversation, Alya knew that Adrien wasn't the kind of guy to bask in his own fame. That, or Adrien was a better actor than accounted for.

When she refused to accept this answer, a third came to light.

 **c)** Something was definitely going on with the two of them, either individually, or a serious sitch together.

* * *

As soon as the day called out, Nino stood up to leave, or just sit on the stairs and listen to music until Adrien's driver came.

Alya grabbed him by the ear and pulled up to the back of the classroom, painfully and embarrassingly enough that Nino's right ear was as red as his left ear.

"Did I do something wrong?" He said as he rubbed his left ear.

She _pocketed_ her phone.

 ** _Red alert! Red alert!_**

Yes. Yes. He probably did do something wrong.

Alya jabbed a finger at him, "Something is wrong with our best friends."

Nino shrugged off the anxiety, realizing it wasn't really his fault, "Not really. Actually I think it's pretty great."

"Great?"

She didn't know.

Simply put, Alya Césaire didn't know.

"Those two were made for each other, even if they refuse to show us their love letters," she rapidly berated him, "Even if they're not telling each other. What's a simple _excuse me_ and _no_ to them."

Nino scratched his elbow, where Alya's curlicue handwriting wrote: _What song is that?_

 _"_ Alya," Nino called after her inherent rambling.

She didn't stop.

It went like that sometimes. Even when her usually on-point deductions ended a centimeter off. She wouldn't stop until faced with factual information that directly contradicted her own.

It made her annoying that way, but it never stopped Nino. " _Alya_."

She hummed, looking at him with eyes that screamed _I was on a roll. Why'd you stop me_? in a vaguely angered expression.

"You see them," Nino pointed to Juleka and Rose. Inseparable since the day they met. They said hi to each other and just knew they were soulmates. "That's the deal with Adrien right now." Somewhere, sometime over the weekend, Adrien met his soulmate."

"He's friends with me too, Nino," she argued, "He would've told me. And even if he did, why does he suddenly become really interested in Marinette."

"Why would you say that?"

"He seemed pretty disappointed when Marinette didn't flounder about his hello."

"He usually doesn't care, to be honest."

Alya jabbed a finger toward him, " _No_ , he usually doesn't _react_. This," she gestured between their two best friends, " _this_ is new. _This_ , whatever Adrien thinks he can get away without us noticing, is a reaction."

"What do expect us to do? Sneak a peak at their love letters push them towards each other?"

Her face lit up. Now, usually, Nino found that so absolutely adorable.

Lovely.

Inspiring.

Now, it was just scary.

Nino widened his eyes, "Oh, no, no. I didn't mean-"

"That's a _brilliant_ idea."

"Considering we don't even know where they are?"

Alya rolled her eyes. "We know _what_ they are, and it's each other. We just need to get them to realize it. Now, you have a mission. You have no choice but to accept it. If not, I will personally see that you destruct."

And so the mission began.

* * *

Marinette noticed her friends three minutes into their shenanigans.

They weren't exactly subtle.

At least, Nino wasn't.

He plopped right next to her and looked away awkwardly. "Hi, Marinette."

The last time something like that happened, Marinette had locked him with Alya in an empty panther exhibit. "What is it, Nino?"

"Have you seen Adrien today?"

Inside, Marinette panicked. Outside, she just raised her eyebrows at Nino and hummed. "I'm very sure he's in the library."

The boy's face went slack, "Oh. Um. Thanks, Mari. See you tomorrow, I guess."

* * *

By tomorrow, Nino sat next to Alya and whispered in her ear, "It didn't work."

So when Marinette hopped into the classroom, Alya smiled cheekily at her.

"I really want to sit next to Nino today, so why don't you go sit by Adrien for now?"

Marinette's eyes widened significantly, considering that they were wide enough as is. "B-but, I can't. What if Madame Bustier sees?"

"Please, Mari," Alya rolled her eyes, "You're class rep. That's kind of worth an exception, right?"

"I don't think it works that way, Alya."

Time gave up on Marinette's futile attempts at avoiding the inevitable. Alya and Nino were just too persistent for that.

Oh, and Adrien walked into the classroom too.

"Hey, Marinette, I guess you're sitting next to me for now, huh?"

"Um," she mumbled, "uh. What. Ah. Sure."

Thankfully, of course, Nino had briefed Adrien (or rather, omitted a few truths.) As Alya had instructed him to do, Nino told Adrien that Marinette wanted to sit in the front for today, and get to know Adrien a bit more.

Which made no sense to Nino, considering Marinette knew some things that Nino never considered learning about his own best friend (such as, for one, the number of times he runs his hand through his hair.)

"Great!" Adrien glowed.

Nino and Alya beamed at each other, a hidden fistbump underneath the desk.

At least, they hoped it was a success. Everything else went the wrong way when there was complete silence in the row.

Actually, the only time there was something interesting going on was when Chloé looked pointedly at them and asked in a _very_ loud voice, "No, Sabrina, I don't think it's allowed to change seats."

* * *

"Marinette," Alya grabbed her best friend's shoulders, "You just spent and entire day sitting next to Adrien and you didn't puke or pass out even _once_. YOu can walk up to him after class and finally tell him."

"It's complicated, Alya."

The blogger looked at her, "How complicated?"

"Soulmate-level complicated."

Alya grimaced, "Wow. That is complicated."

* * *

But despite everything, Marinette had in fact come to realize that Alya was right.

She couldn't avoid Chat forever.

And she could _never_ let Adrien go.

"Tikki, transform me!"

* * *

Adrien almost jumped when he saw Ladybug sitting on his window.

She was balancing on a two-inch pane of glass, yet his heart was teetering of edge.

"Is there an akuma now? Am I in danger again?"

Ladybug shook her head, "Um, no. I'm just here to tell you something, without anything breathing down my neck, or yours."

"What do you mean?" Adrien tried not the stutter.

The heroine jumped onto the floor, "I know you. Outside this mask, I mean. Behind it."

 _Oh, hi, Marinette._

"And I know that I always seem so confident and everything, but I'm really just _not_ ," she took a step closer to Adrien, "Especially in front of you."

Ladybug knitted her hands together, "I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I kind of _really really_ like you. I just don't know exactly how to say it without hurting Chat Noir. He's my best friend, and I really care for him. But you've always kind of got in the way, not that I blame you."

 _So she's been rejecting me for me. That doesn't have to hurt._

"What?"

"Did I say that out loud?"

"You actually did," Ladybug laughed, "But I don't really get it."

Adrien shrugged, "You get half my jokes, my lady. You just pretend like you don't like it."

She smiled.

Her whole lovely Marinette smile, "I knew it."


End file.
